


after the tone (i want to hear your voice)

by RyeFo



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Canon Non-Binary Character, Friendship, Gen, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 01:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18420110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyeFo/pseuds/RyeFo
Summary: You take your phone out of your pocket and flip it open, and you’re greeted with the picture of you and your family, and the usual number of missed calls from Asriel growing.It’s at 14, now. There’re 3 voice messages. The number keeps growing like a toxic buttercup.





	after the tone (i want to hear your voice)

**Author's Note:**

> This was my piece for the Deltarune charity zine (https://deltazine.tumblr.com). Pre-orders have been open for ages and others have posted their work, so. Have at it. :)

**after the tone**

_by RyeFo_

-

Autumn’s swept its paintbrush over your quaint little town, there’re kids playing in the leaves a baby step’s pace away, and you’re hidden away, huddled up under the old oak tree that’s served as your refuge more than once. Once, in a fit of childish arrogance, you’d grabbed a knife and tried to carve your name into the bark. Asgore caught you after your third slip up, and it’s began to heal from the scars you inflicted onto it.

Third time’s the charm, but you never finished carving. Your hand traces over the barely-legible names, splinters missing your skin by inches;

_~~Fri—~~ _

_~~Cha—~~ _

_~~Kri—~~ _

Kris.

That’s your name.

Those other names were mistakes from old games you used to play.

_(Maybe.)_

You sigh, taking your hand back to your side.

When Asgore caught you that day, stuck with splinters in your hand and your big brother watching your rebellion in awe, Asriel immediately took the blame. Said it was all his idea, _refused_ to give you up despite you being caught red-handed.

You just stayed silent.

Asgore didn’t believe him, of course. Neither did Toriel. But you weren't punished. You never were, if Asriel was the one who took the blame.

Something in your head began to nag at you, and you cleared those thoughts from your mind, so you go about ignoring nostalgia, and look up at the sky instead. You know that, soon, the world will grow dark, that dimming starlight will be your only glimpse of light. Unless you looked through Asriel’s eyes, obviously. Your brother always had lenses made from sunshine. Everything looked golden when you were with him.

…You take your phone out of your pocket and flip it open, and you’re greeted with the picture of you and your family, and the usual number of missed calls from Asriel growing.

It’s at 14, now. There’re 3 voice messages. Growing like a toxic buttercup.

You purse your lips, something pulsating painfully in your chest. You’re pulling on your sweater for a few seconds before your sweaty palms press _play_ on the first message from a week ago.

Asriel’s static-coated voice fills your ears.

_“…Heya, Kris! Mom says that you’ve been eating all the pie again! C’mon, can’t you save me and Dad a slice next time I come to visit? Anyway, I know you’ve got tests and stuff—man, University is a lot busier than I thought it’d be—but call me back so we can arrange to hang, okay? Bye!”_

It clicks off.

The grip on your phone becomes a little sweaty. There’s a brief memory that rings in your mind—the sound of your mother’s happy voice filling the downstairs living room as you stayed upstairs with your nose buried in a book. That was last week. Toriel hadn’t laughed like that since.

Your heart rings in your ears when you press the next one.

 _“Ah, I caught your answering machine again? Damn._ _Well, no point beating around the bush! Thought I ask straight out: there’s this event going on for University, and we’re allowed to bring a guest! A few people have asked me there but…_ ”

You hear him laugh a little awkwardly. _“You’re my best friend. I’d rather have you there. There’ll be free food, and it won’t even be that long! Just—just let me know? Anyway, talk later, Kris!”_

There’s a sigh of relief on his end before the message ends.

You fail to notice the shadow out of the corner of your eye, approaching you closer as you gulp, swallowing down any last hesitation before listening to the last message Asriel left for you.

The date of the message is today's date.

 _“…Hey, Kris._ ”

His tone has a sense of foreboding. You can feel the shadows encroaching you with how guilty you are—how much you’ve not listened to him.

 _“I’m sorry if I’ve done something to upset you.”_ Your heart pulsates _painfully,_ gripping your chest with your hand until you feel the skin break. Yet, he carries on. _“I know me leaving for University may have… I don’t know, made you feel even more alone. Especially after Dad left, and I wasn’t all that communicative when I first got here.”_

You hear fabric rustling—maybe he’s lying on his bed when he sent you this, surrounded by all the books you used to read together. _“It was hard for me to settle in, too. But I want you to know I’m here for you. If you ever need me, I’m waiting._ ” He sighs deeply. You can see that famous, bittersweet smile on your brother’s face—you wonder what he’d think if you told him about Ralsei’s smile, too? —and he says _, “until I get back, be good, okay?”_

Asriel’s voices fades away within the static, and you snap your phone shut. With a sigh, you lean your head back on the tree, letting your eyes peek through your unruly bangs.  _Be good,_ he says. _Be good, okay?_ Like Toriel used to say, like Asgore used to preach, like you used to try and do, before everything became so...  _this._

You’re thinking even deeper about your situation when—

A sudden fist _smacks_ the back of your head and makes your head spin, filling your eyes with red.

“Are you _still_ moping around?” Susie barks, dropping down next to you and glaring. “You haven’t moved from here all _day._ ”

You’re holding your head and trying to soothe the shooting pains, pointing a justified glare right back at Susie. She’s got a cigarette hanging between her teeth that you promptly take away and crush between your fingers.

“Spoilsport,” Susie says, before resting her head on her hand and looking at you. “So, what’s eating you?”

Immediately, you withdraw, huddling back into a ball—until Susie grabs your shoulder. “Nuh-uh, you’re not doing that.” She forces you to sit upright. “Look, your Mom keeps looking for you, asked me to keep an eye out. But I’m not delivering a dead-eyed kid to her.”

When she notices it’s not working, her tone turns a little softer. “Hey,” she nudges your shoulder. “Just fess up, yeah? I’m not going anywhere.”

The look in her eyes is of pure defiance—it hits you that she’s not afraid to battle your own fears for you. Susie is many things, but you think that most of all, she’s—

~~( _Determined._ )~~

**Undeterred**.

You take a breath, before showing her your phone. She looks over it, leaning forward and blinking fast. “Missed calls?” She raises a brow as she glances back at you. “From your brother?”

You nod, snapping your phone shut and shrugging.

“Well, why’s that a problem?”

Your hands clench into hardened fists; she forcibly prises them open, so you cling to her hands instead. “He’s not been around much?” You shake your head. “… _You’ve_ not been around much?”

When you shrink into your shoulders, she clicks her tongue. “Ah, I see.” She still holds onto your hands, and you _pray_ your sweater sleeves don’t fall lower than your wrists. “You’ve been ignoring him. Feeling lonely, so striking back in any way you can. That about right?”

You blink up at her, managing a stiff nod.

“Yeah, I’ve been there.” She brings your hands down slowly, resting them in your lap, and sighs. “But it does no good to run from your problems, Kris. You gotta face them head on.” She gestures with a move of her head to your phone. “There are different ways we can approach stuff, yeah? Make that first step, because your bro’s already waiting for you.”

You drag your eyes to your phone and purse your lips.

There are too many things to say to Asriel.

What do you even start with? How low your mother has been feeling, how your father has become so isolated? There are too many cracks and threads that you’re _scared_ to even attempt at weaving _that_ tale together. How about when the bully of the year is now sitting with you, consoling you and convincing you to speak to your brother—when days prior, she’d slammed you into a locker and threatened to kill you?

How she’s your friend? How someone so _familiar_ to your brother—bordering on _identical_ , exists in a shadowed-version of an abandoned classroom?

_~~[ **RESET?]**~~ _

_Where do you even start? The rubble? The sins?_

_[Crawling on your back]_

_. . ._

_* Time to **ACT.**_

You bury your head in Susie’s shoulder and grit your teeth, taking a moment before pulling away from her hands.

“Kris?” She tilts her head, that familiar crooked grin giving you pause. “You ready?”

You point at your phone, and she, without another word, Susie grabs it and simply tosses it to you. You catch it with a practised sense of ease. As you flip it open, you stare at your screen. At that familiar picture, under that familiar tree, with bandages covering your hands and fingers.

For once, you manage to escape your own head. And, sure, it takes you a moment before you’re ready. But after a deep breath, you do it. You press a button, open your mouth, and feel the words that eluded you, begin to flow.

Because, this time, you know, as you look at Susie, that it doesn’t matter how far you shut yourself off.

Someone’s always with you, even in the dark.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you can, feedback FEEDS THE SOUL.   
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> * . . . A n d I a m h u n g r y


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